Theology, Prophecy and Politics in Dante

Principally this thesis will deal with defining, accounting for, and examining, the relationship between the theological and the political in Dante's use of prophecy. It will be demonstrated that it is an over-riding feature of Dante’s thought in both the Monarchia and the Commedia that the only remedy against cupidity, and the damage it does to the world, is ecclesiastical poverty combined with imperial power. This thesis will show that much of the urgency and passion with which Dante communicates his political and social message in the Commedia, which seems to advocate both ecclesiastical poverty and imperial power as prerequisites for the ideal human society, is through his use of prophecy and of prophetic language. I demonstrate the way in which contemporary responses to the Old Testament prophets and the book of Revelation seem to have influenced Dante’s prophetic manner, but also seeks to highlight the unique nature of Dante’s response to the currents of thought he encountered, in particular the adoption of religious prophecy as the means by which some of the most innovative aspects of his political thought are articulated.